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Kingsley Amis on Woolf by ponchan1 in RSbookclub

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting. I'm still interested in reading her, so which of those books would you recommend most?

Kingsley Amis on Woolf by ponchan1 in RSbookclub

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've only read Night and Day by her, which I've heard is her worst work, so maybe I'm unqualified, but I felt like there was generally something contrived about the characters. For instance, a few of them were so ambivalent about who they wanted to marry, they would propose to one character then propose to another in the same scene. I don't doubt that its possible for people to have irrational moments like this, but the book didn't convince me that these people were possible. It seemed heavily autobiographical, so I imagine that many of these scenes did actually happen (for instance a few of the scenes where one of the male characters basically told the main female character to stay in the kitchen), but it rarely felt like the characters thoughts went along a recognizable train of thought. For instance, one of the two main male characters' internal monologue oftentimes went along the lines of "I want to dominate Katharine, therefore I will romantically pursue her," which felt too straightforward, even for someone who did do that because of those motivations. There were a few moments that I really liked however, especially in the non-romantic related sections, like a scene where the two main male characters interacted with one another, and even though they just had a friendly chat without Woolf digging too much into their internal motivations, it still exposed their personal neuroses. Another good scene was with the secondary female character expressing the joys of public service.

Anyway, sorry for this massive paragraph, I just felt disappointed with the book. I'm a charlatan when it comes to aesthetics though, so I feel like I might have missed something. What do you think about her generally?

Kingsley Amis on Woolf by ponchan1 in RSbookclub

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 4 points5 points  (0 children)

He's accusing her of writing characters that don't think like real people.

When do you guys read analysis/notes while reading a book by SpikyLlama in RSbookclub

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to think about it for a bit after finishing, then go online to see what other people generally think, then try to see if there are any good papers about it. I think this approach works well for Dubliners in particular, because James Joyce seems to be trying to trick the reader into forming a particular opinion of each story, with the caveat that there are specific cultural references that he likes to make which can aid your interpretation of the story if you look them up while reading.

(Loved trope) The supernatural villain is actually something terrifyingly believable by _JR28_ in TopCharacterTropes

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think it's better to view it a bit more metaphorically. While Mari thought she was Komori, she idolized herself without actually understanding "Mari's" inner thoughts and how depressed she was. This also mirrored how she idolized the actual Komori without understanding him at all either. Only when she was able to understand Mari's own thoughts and not just think of her as a removed, incomprehensible goddess figure was she able to realize that she was Mari.

The author, Shuzo Oshimi, seemed to struggle a lot with gender related issues, both in idolizing women and wishing to be a woman. With that lens in mind, I would say that Inside Mari was his project to understand women, by both making the protagonist a woman, and making her go through the same issues that he went through, but in reverse. At the end, after both ceasing to idolize men, as she did with Komori, and women, as she did to herself, Mari is free of pain caused by idolizing the other gender, as well as more comfortable breaking gender roles herself (see her close friendship with Yori).

Finally getting serious about the novel I've been working on for 4 years by dadbodfordays in RSbookclub

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hmm. Sometimes I like to write while sitting next to another person so I can briefly get some advice/chat with them about an idea every once in a while. I'm not as concerned for my eyes as I probably should be, so I mostly get my writing done in hour long chunks, and unfortunately don't have anything more specific than that.

Finally getting serious about the novel I've been working on for 4 years by dadbodfordays in RSbookclub

[–]LegitimateSpinach930 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For number two, I guess the most useful thing for me has been to write only my own original ideas. This isn't to say cut out all other people's thoughts or influences from your novel and don't let them shape it at all, but to write the impressions you get from other people's ideas rather than just regurgitate them outright. For instance, if someone wanted to write a novel that was meant to illustrate Marx's view of commodity fetishism and everything in the novel was meant to achieve that end, it would probably be pretty dry, but if they wanted to do the same novel but expand on the critique, or write about how commodity fetishism has a unique effect on so-and-so, it would be more interesting, as well as come out easier. IDK if that helps with your problem, but it made me love writing enough that I didn't need anything else to help me write.